Parents of Verona, we feel your pain: Your simple morning walk to school with the kids has been replaced by an almost endless series of car trips between the Verona Pool and the schools as you juggle swim team and summer programs like music.
“Why can’t the town use the senior citizen bus as a shuttle?” one parent wailed yesterday morning as she herded her kids into the minivan for the next round of activities. “I’d even pay for it just to get my morning back.”
A shuttle bus seems like a great idea, and Verona has a bus that might be available for that purpose. Not for free: in this tight-budget environment, some folks will have a problem if the town provides service that way. But there are 130 kids on the Verona Waves swim team, about that number in Summer Music and dozens more in the summer playground program. It takes at least 125 car trips to make everything happen; probably more.
So we ask you: What you you pay for the summer to have your kids ride a shuttle bus?
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I’m assuming that’s a flat fee for the five weeks of camps, etc. Not a per use fee.
We would also be doing the GREEN thing by not having as many vehicles on the road doing the same pickup and drop off routine.
Yes, I should have been clearer: The proposed fee is for the entire 5 weeks of the summer programs.
Hi Virginia, what about adults, like myself that do not drive, is the shuttle going to be only for children?
That’s also a worthwhile question to ask of town government. Hoboken has repurposed its senior citizen bus into an intracity shuttle called “The Hop”. You can even send a text message to find out where the closet one is at any time. It costs $1 per ride for adults, 50 cents for students, and seniors and kids under 12 are free. See http://www.hobokennj.org/departments/transportation-parking/the-hop/
This would be great. We are a one car family which I take to work. Husband walks our son to most activities, but for those that are too far away, we just can’t do.
I like the “hop” idea. Anyone could hop on at different spots around town. We already have the bus. This is a great “green” way to go!
Has anyone approached the town about this? Even if it can’t happen for this summer, the balls needs to be rolling soon to make it happen next summer.
The Town Manager and Town Council are regular readers of this site, so hopefully one of them can make some additional usage of the senior citizens’ bus a Council issue. I have learned from a Verona resident who specializes in transportation that there are additional rules to follow when transporting children.